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Introduction
The Australian Curriculum aims to fulfil the goal of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008) to develop students who are successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens. The general capabilities are essential 21st century skills that, together with the curriculum content of each learning area and the cross-curriculum priorities, form part of the Australian Curriculums three-dimensional curriculum design. The implementation of the Australian Curriculum in Queensland schools from 2012 is an opportunity to plan for effective inclusion of the general capabilities in teaching and learning programs. Effective inclusion of the general capabilities requires support at a strategic level within the school. Whole school strategic planning to support inclusion of the general capabilities may take the form of: support from school leaders to develop a whole school, shared understanding of the general capabilities planning for teaching, learning, assessment and reporting by deepening teachers content knowledge and refining their understandings of the skills, behaviours and dispositions required by the general capabilities. The general capabilities are being revised so that they all have similar junctures. This work is scheduled for completion at the end of 2012. The following advice offers broad suggestions for: a school review to determine how well the general capabilities are included approaches for how to include the general capabilities in teaching and learning programs.
General capabilities
The Australian Curriculum has seven general capabilities. The seven capabilities are divided into two groups. One group focuses on capabilities that support students to be successful learners, while the other group focuses on capabilities that develop ways of being, behaving and learning to live with others. The general capabilities are support materials, and have been embedded by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in the learning area content descriptions. For each general capability, ACARA has provided: an introduction describing the nature and scope of the capability organising elements a learning continuum that describes the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions students develop at particular stages of schooling.
The Literacy and Numeracy continua are organised into five stages, describing student learning at the end of Years 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Continua for the other five capabilities are currently organised into three stages, describing student learning at the end of Years 2, 6 and 10, to approximate the end of early childhood, primary, and junior secondary years in most states and territories. ACARA is undertaking further work during 2012 to refine the general capabilities continua to include other year levels. While this work is in development, the current junctures provide schools with a good starting point for working with the general capabilities. Table 1 shows the conceptual and Year level divisions of the general capabilities. Table 1: General capabilities Group 1: Supporting students to become successful learners
Literacy Numeracy Information and communication technology (ICT) capability Critical and creative thinking
Stages: by end of
Years 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Years 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Years 2, 6, 10 Years 2, 6, 10
Group 2: Developing ways of being, behaving and learning to live with others
Personal and social capability Ethical behaviour Intercultural understanding Years 2, 6, 10 Years 2, 6, 10 Years 2, 6, 10
More information
For more information, please: email the Australian Curriculum Branch at australiancurriculum@qsa.qld.edu.au phone (07) 3864 0462 visit the QSA website <www.qsa.qld.edu.au> and search for General capabilities.